Another Black Eye for Penn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
She’s a master manipulator. The article is part of the plaintiff lawyers’ appeal to the public and to taint the jury. Or to force an early settlement. Most good lawyers don’t litigate in the press.

Bingo. But nobody reads New Yorker anymore. It's a rag running on fumes. I hope Penn does not settle. This rich brat needs to be exposed on record.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
She’s a master manipulator. The article is part of the plaintiff lawyers’ appeal to the public and to taint the jury. Or to force an early settlement. Most good lawyers don’t litigate in the press.

Bingo. But nobody reads New Yorker anymore. It's a rag running on fumes. I hope Penn does not settle. This rich brat needs to be exposed on record.

The vehemence of your post suggest you are either her abusive mom or affiliated with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of her excuses remind me of guilty criminals who’s been in prison for 10 20 30 years and cook up all these emotional excuses and alibis to “prove” they’re innocent. The writer is either a total gullible moron or set out with an agenda.

The most laughable excuse is why she changed her last name. It was OBVIOUSLY to dupe Rhodes, so nobody could google her and her rich mom.

If this was a Black or white male, they’d throw this schemer in jail. But because she’s is a privileged cute rich white girl, she continues lying and freeloading and even crashes at female teachers’ homes and mooches grad school money from them.

Ludicrous. I guess you have a lot of grievances to the point where you are incapable of being objective. Using the word “obviously” in caps doesn’t substitute for actual analysis or reference to facts.

And what do you know about people who have been imprisoned for long periods of time - guilty, innocent, or otherwise? Obviously nothing. Just a shallow reference to stereotypes. And irrelevant stereotypes at that.

Thrown in jail? For what? No crime here.

[Anonymous]

McKenzie claims in the New Yorker her rich private day school college counselor first broached the topic of QuestBridge. Did the New Yorker verify that?

Verifying that means the counselor admitted she [counselor] *first* broached it -- not to be confused with the counselor and McKenzie speaking in general about the program. Obviously they spoke about the program as she was applying to it.

Also, did McKenzie apply for other lucrative awards as a hedge, e.g. Coca Cola, Gates Scholar? Did her counselor *first* tell her about all of those, too?

Why in the world would a counselor at a rich day school know all of the ins and outs of exclusive scholarships meant for poor first-generation (and foster) students? More to the point, why would a rich private school counselor, who has at least dozens of other seniors applying, know that a brand new "foster kid" senior technically qualifies for it? The timeline of the McKenzie's legal entrance into "foster care system" and the deadline to first apply for Questbridge was literally weeks.

It just doesn't pass the smell test. It seems, to me, she obsessively studied up on all of these "hooks" and lavish awards on college admissions forums long before she hatched this scheme and/or long before she was technically in the foster system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we going to re-litigate this whole subject again? Two threads on this very same topic have already been locked.

You’re free not to participate. Why so anxious to shut it down?

I participated twice before, and it got locked twice, so I don't want to make all the same arguments again that have already been made.

Then don’t.

The reason the topic has been reopened is that the New Yorker article presents a lot of new information. Making the same arguments again would simply mean that you are ignoring the new information or didn’t bother to read the new article. In that case, please don’t participate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McKenzie claims in the New Yorker her rich private day school college counselor first broached the topic of QuestBridge. Did the New Yorker verify that?

Verifying that means the counselor admitted she [counselor] *first* broached it -- not to be confused with the counselor and McKenzie speaking in general about the program. Obviously they spoke about the program as she was applying to it.

Also, did McKenzie apply for other lucrative awards as a hedge, e.g. Coca Cola, Gates Scholar? Did her counselor *first* tell her about all of those, too?

Why in the world would a counselor at a rich day school know all of the ins and outs of exclusive scholarships meant for poor first-generation (and foster) students? More to the point, why would a rich private school counselor, who has at least dozens of other seniors applying, know that a brand new "foster kid" senior technically qualifies for it? The timeline of the McKenzie's legal entrance into "foster care system" and the deadline to first apply for Questbridge was literally weeks.

It just doesn't pass the smell test. It seems, to me, she obsessively studied up on all of these "hooks" and lavish awards on college admissions forums long before she hatched this scheme and/or long before she was technically in the foster system.

This is silly. I don’t even work in college admissions and I know all about Questbridge, Posse, etc. Even assuming no one from that school had never applied to one of those programs before (which I think is a stretch) any competent college adviser would know they exist.

I am impressed or depressed at the level of vitriol people have for this young woman but I still think regardless of who you believe on she said/she said Penn comes off badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we going to re-litigate this whole subject again? Two threads on this very same topic have already been locked.

You’re free not to participate. Why so anxious to shut it down?

I participated twice before, and it got locked twice, so I don't want to make all the same arguments again that have already been made.

Then don’t.

The reason the topic has been reopened is that the New Yorker article presents a lot of new information. Making the same arguments again would simply mean that you are ignoring the new information or didn’t bother to read the new article. In that case, please don’t participate.

Nothing is new here. Back and forth -- like the other threads. I'll wade back in, but I'm aware it might get shut down again.
Penn was right in informing Rhodes of the information it received about Ms. Fierceton, and Rhodes was right in revoking her scholarship.
That was all discussed ad nausum in the other two threads.

[Anonymous]

Mackenzie Fierceton could have been me. My parents are UMC professionals, well known in our community. My mother was incredibly abusive to me and my siblings. My parents did not pay for college at all, taking out loans in me and my siblings' names and claiming us on their taxes but not supporting us. In college, I had so many jobs I almost failed. I could not get work study or financial aid as my dad is a partner at a large law firm and my mom worked in administration at a prep school. When I was a kid, I thought my dad was my protector, but as an adult and parent, I know my dad failed me. My sister and brother suffered my mom's abuse way worse than me. We are all very successful, but while we were at home, life was miserable if my dad was at work or out of the house. I can't tell you how many times I called my dad at work or my aunts because my mom was hurting my siblings physically and emotionally. My mom would not allow us to sleep, would yell and scream at us all night. When my sister was a senior, my mom moved her room to the basement one day, taking over her room and repainting it and redesigning it for my brother. My sister slept in our finished basement all senior year.

When I was in college, I could not join any of the sororities with women from my hometown. They all loved my mom. She was pretty, smart, popular, the life of the party. I remember going to my friend's apartment the first week of school and her asking me if I missed my mom? I couldn't say anything as it would come off "messed up". No, I was so happy to be at school and not have to worry about my mom. My younger siblings never came home after they graduated HS. They lived at college. We didn't understand how to get financially emancipated.

When my sister and I got our jobs, they were concerned about the types of jobs we had. We worked in bars mainly and it looked "bad" in the line of work we are in but those were the only jobs I could get. I cannot tell you how hungry and exhausted I was in college. I used to eat food people would throw in the trash. I weighed barely 105 lbs in college and was so tired. I went to class then worked all afternoon and nights and weekends.

As a young adult, my parents tried to scare me about money and it was so frightening. I can tell you that this young woman at Penn is probably not lying. In college, only one professor realized something was wrong and they wrongly assumed that I was being abused by a boyfriend.

Just because your parents are wealthy and well educated does not mean that abuse does not happen. Now would I have described myself as first gen or low income? No. But I definitely was poor in college and not in a ramen noodle type way. I feared getting evicted. I didn't have a lot of stuff. I was working all the time to just pay bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1.) What is the writer's background; did she grow up wealthy, what's her alma mater? I ask because I want to know if she was duped or this was a hit piece from the get-go aimed at Penn. I guarantee the writer did not grow up poor because nobody who grew up genuinely poor and was or is genuinely a first-generation college student is gullible enough to believe this con artist. Like it is legitimately laughably that anyone would buy this crap.

2.) Why did the writer omit this smoking gun from her reporting? Do her editors know of this smoking gun? Why was a woman who claims to have zero relationship or support from mum and dad submitting this internally to Penn financial aid:

Additionally, I partially support my younger sister, who will be starting college soon. I will then have the additional strain of working to put her through school and ensure her basic living expenses are met. Because she also has special needs, additional resources such as medication, testing, learning aids, and more create further expenses throughout this process.” She wrote the same in her 2018-2019 PFAS form. Ms. Shaw told OSC that Mackenzie has not provided, and that there was no reason to believe it would become necessary to provide, “basic living expenses” or medical costs for Cat (who does have learning challenges). Asked about this, Mackenzie told OSC (and it was separately confirmed) that Mackenzie set up a 529 account for her sister to use towards higher education. OSC understands that the account has approximately $6,000 in it at this point. According to Mackenzie, the seed money for this account may have come from her biological father, although she does not quite remember.

*crickets*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What did the rich white 22 or 23 year old woman (not “girl”) do when caught? Fess up? Nope, she fake cried crocodile tears to try and weasel out of the interrogation and then gaslit everyone that the admins and lawyer were super mean when they called out her lies and financial aid fraud on a zoom call. Even to the New Yorker they traffic the lie that the zoom interrogation was like akin to water boarding in Guantanamo. What a bunch of shameless nitwits.

A serial liar never fesses up, they double down with more lies and when you’re a rich pretty white girl, you play get to play the innocent angel. This really seems like the M.O. of a sociopath. They’re never the issue, the issue is everyone else. Yeah, everyone is conspiring against this rich white girl. Right.

You’re making claims with no supporting evidence.

1. There was no fraud. Questbridge vetted her application in the first place and stands behind the legitimacy of the application today upon review.

2. Information in the New Yorker article shows that she was not the one who accused the “admins and layer” (same person) of being “super mean”. It was the faculty member who sat in on that meeting.

3. The New Yorker article makes clear that there was no financial aid fraud. She answered the question which qualified her honestly.

There are actual facts here which you are completely ignoring. The rest of your statement amounts to nothing but baseless name calling. Pure drivel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point about Questbridge reaffirming that her application was legit is really significant. They are the closest thing to a neutral third party in this, and they’re siding with Mackenzie over Penn.

Yeah, I totally expected them to admit they were duped by a rich white girl at the most elite private school in the middle west. lol

NP. I highly doubt Questbridge would choose to damage its own credibility by being dishonest.

Nobody ever admits fault in something like this. Even Penn was duped in admissions — where it’s pretty obviously the more elite Ivies and Stanford clearly smelled her bogus b.s. from a mile away.

Not true. It was Questbridge who vetted her application. As a participating Questbridge institution, Penn accepted the Questbridge application as it does with all Questbridge applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point about Questbridge reaffirming that her application was legit is really significant. They are the closest thing to a neutral third party in this, and they’re siding with Mackenzie over Penn.

Yeah, I totally expected them to admit they were duped by a rich white girl at the most elite private school in the middle west. lol

NP. I highly doubt Questbridge would choose to damage its own credibility by being dishonest.

Nobody ever admits fault in something like this. Even Penn was duped in admissions — where it’s pretty obviously the more elite Ivies and Stanford clearly smelled her bogus b.s. from a mile away.

Not true. It was Questbridge who vetted her application. As a participating Questbridge institution, Penn accepted the Questbridge application as it does with all Questbridge applicants.

Well, they didn't vet it very well, did they?

[Anonymous]

Ok, Mackenzie hater, what do you have to say about her mom reacting with lolz about her boyfriends sexual abuse of her 15 year old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1.) What is the writer's background; did she grow up wealthy, what's her alma mater? I ask because I want to know if she was duped or this was a hit piece from the get-go aimed at Penn. I guarantee the writer did not grow up poor because nobody who grew up genuinely poor and was or is genuinely a first-generation college student is gullible enough to believe this con artist. Like it is legitimately laughably that anyone would buy this crap.

2.) Why did the writer omit this smoking gun from her reporting? Do her editors know of this smoking gun? Why was a woman who claims to have zero relationship or support from mum and dad submitting this internally to Penn financial aid:

Additionally, I partially support my younger sister, who will be starting college soon. I will then have the additional strain of working to put her through school and ensure her basic living expenses are met. Because she also has special needs, additional resources such as medication, testing, learning aids, and more create further expenses throughout this process.” She wrote the same in her 2018-2019 PFAS form. Ms. Shaw told OSC that Mackenzie has not provided, and that there was no reason to believe it would become necessary to provide, “basic living expenses” or medical costs for Cat (who does have learning challenges). Asked about this, Mackenzie told OSC (and it was separately confirmed) that Mackenzie set up a 529 account for her sister to use towards higher education. OSC understands that the account has approximately $6,000 in it at this point. According to Mackenzie, the seed money for this account may have come from her biological father, although she does not quite remember.

I grew up legitimately poor and I am totally on Mackenzie’s side in this. You’re wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really have to suspend all reality to believe anything this woman tells you and overlook the serial manipulative diversions, guilt-tripping and gas lighting. Her lies and excuses are just so laughable. The only reason she gets away with it is because she's a cute well-groomed rich girl. Perfect teeth, polished, and knows how to work all the angles.

She 'speaks the language' of a rich white girl, thus rich white professors and rich white writers are captivated by her. It is white privilege in action. Imagine hearing a Black male was accused of this sort of six-figure financial aid fraud and was randomly living with female professors and randomly on the receiving end of tens of thousands of dollars from the professors. You can't imagine it because it would never happen and actual poor kids don't know how to work all of these angles, only ruthless striver rich kids do. I wouldn't be surprised if her Rhodes scholar mentor older pal at Penn is also a pathological lying fraud. Birds of a feather.

Get it. You don’t like her. Get that you feel she’s being given special treatment over people like you.

Facts are inconvenient things. You don’t have to believe her “lies” to deal with the facts.

FACT: There was no financial aid fraud. None. She has never been accused if that and has never been found guilty of that. If you think there was, state your case.

FACT: There is nothing wrong with her living with professors or receiving voluntary financial assistance from them. It’s a free country. And you’re free not to like it.

FACT: She is not a rich kid. Once was but hasn’t been fir the past 8 years.

FACT: There is no evidence that her Rhodes scholar mentor is either lying, pathological, or a fraud. Quite the opposite. 40+ year career in higher education and currently holds an endowed chair at Penn. Widely respected.